The Larthena Saga
by Red5T65
Summary: When Larry met Athena for the first time, he was smitten. He didn't care that he was nearly two decades older. And when he realized she understood him, he did everything he could to get together with her. But not everyone sees it that way. Rated high T (possibly M) for graphic imagery and language.
1. Setting the Stage

**A/N: I'm pretty sure Larry hadn't met Athena (or Apollo, I think) until the Sprocket case. He was there to get a girlfriend (who was getting married) And I have a feeling that in his head, he found one in Athena. But how well will Apollo and Simon take the news? I don't own Ace Attorney, that would be Capcom.**

* * *

Larry hadn't actually met the people working for Phoenix ever. At least, not until the whole Sprocket ordeal. Apollo, he was cool with. Then he mentioned he worked in Khura'in, which sounded cool, and Larry asked if he could come sometime. Phoenix said yes, and Apollo just sort of shrugged. But then he met Athena. The first time they'd met… Sucked. He'd known that all the girls had wanted to get the bridal bouquet, but as his luck would have it, he got it! He was thrilled at first. Then he saw balled fists, and decided that now would be a good time to run. Turns out, Athena was a really good kicker. It didn't help she had heels on. But then he decided to head over to the office one day. And when he stepped in, he found the _real_ Athena. The caring, spunky-but-not-aggressive, excitable, Athena. Who was also an analytical psychologist. So he said, "Uh, hi." Athena turned to him. "Sorry about that whole thing at the wedding. I totally overreacted." Larry replied, "Nah, it's fine. I actually came over because I wanted to find Nick. But then I noticed you're also a psych major, and I kinda have a few issues." Widget glowed yellow. "And why would you think that?" Larry responded, "You mind doing an impromptu therapy session?" Athena shrugged. "Sure, why not? It's not like I had much else to do. Besides, maybe the boss'll bump my salary up if I do it." With that, she brought him inside, and told him to lay on the couch. She brought in a rolling chair. "Alright, so first, I want you to tell me about yourself. What do you do, what's your life like, stuff like that." Larry nodded, then began, "So, I'm a painter. I get commissions from people to paint stuff. It's not usually much, but it gets me a decent enough apartment. For a while I lived up at Hazakura Temple." Athena stared. "Really? Why?" Larry responded, "Well, my mentor lived up there too. She was Misty Fey in disguise or something. I still go up there sometimes to visit Iris." Athena then asked him, "Iris, as in the boss's ex?" Larry nodded. "Yep. But that was a while ago. Anyway, when I'm not painting, I usually go around town trying to hook up with people. But it usually ends with me getting dumped. Actually, it always ends with me getting dumped. Which is why I'm here." Athena nodded. "Alright, so tell me what you think the problem is."

* * *

The discussion ended up dragging on for a while, and Phoenix came in a couple times to check on them. Eventually, Athena made her diagnosis. "Larry, I think you have a superiority complex, and are a bit too much of a yes-man. You tend to agree to anything and everything, which most people find to be a bit of a turn off, and in your head you're awesome, but otherwise, not so much. However, you do have a career, which is good. Superiority complexes tend to go away once you feel adequate. I can give you a ton of people who like art and would love to have something done for them. Sound good?" Larry nodded, feeling much better about himself. Then he said something that _definitely_ qualified as overstepping boundaries. "Hey, you want to hang out at my place? I think the reason I painted so well was because I always had a muse. Without one, I just don't feel as good." Athena shook her head. "Sorry, but I was planning on hanging out with a friend of mine." But Larry pushed further. "And who exactly is this friend of yours?" Athena replied, "Do you know who Prosecutor Blackquill is?" Larry shook his head. "He's someone I met when I was a kid, and I helped him get acquitted. He's really nice, though super protective. And his methods of protecting me are a bit… violent sometimes." Larry laughed. "It can't be that bad, can it." Athena replied, "He has a pet hawk and is also a samurai." Larry stopped. "Oh. OK then. Remind me not to get on his bad side. But still, offer still stands." Athena shrugged. "I guess I'll think about it." With that, she walked out. Phoenix walked in. "Oh, hey Larry. Did Athena just leave?" But Larry was not at all focused on that. "I think I just got a new girlfriend, Nick." Phoenix stared. "Really? Who?" Trucy walked in the door then. "Hey dad, I'm back! And is that…" Larry nodded. "Larry Butz, painter extraordinaire! I was just telling your dad about my new girlfriend. Phoenix then tapped him. "Out with it then, who is it?" Larry replied, "Athena." Phoenix gaped. "Wait, Athena Cykes? _That_ Athena?" Larry nodded. "Yep! She's the first person who isn't Iris to immediately turn down the opportunity to hang out with me for no reason!" Phoenix replied, "What are you _thinking_ , Larry!? One, she's like 20 years younger than you, and two, she has Simon." Larry shrugged. "One, never stopped me before, and two, she told me about him already. I know what to do in those scenarios." Phoenix facepalmed. "And then you've got Apollo…" Larry cut him off. "He's in Khura'in." Trucy added in, "She's like a sister to me! So EW on so many levels!" Larry responded, "You're not actually siblings, though! So it's not that bad! Trust me, I've had weirder." Trucy covered her ears. "I don't wanna know!" With that, she ran off. Phoenix groaned. "I hope you know what you're getting into…"

* * *

As it turned out, Larry did know what he was getting into. The first thing he did the next morning was stop by the Prosecutor's office to talk to Simon. "Hey, Prosecutor Blackquill?" Simon looked up from his paperwork. "And you are…" "Larry. Larry Butz. Listen to me for a sec? And don't kill for what I'm about to say." Simon nodded. "Go on, Butz-dono." "I kinda want to date Athena." There was an inhuman roar, then the sound of a hawk. "TAKA! DESTROY THIS MAN WHO WANTS TO DEFILE CYKES-DONO!" With that, Taka swooped in, and Larry got pecked in the balls. But Simon noticed Larry wasn't flinching. "WHAT!? HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!?" Larry laughed. "Girls always go for that spot! So I brought a cup with me just in case!" Simon groaned. "CURSE YOU, BUTZ-DONO!" Larry shrugged. "Look, just tell me why you want to kill me because I want to date Athena. There's gotta be more to it." Simon sat down.

"Athena could do so much better than you."

"I knew that already."

"I want to protect her."

"From what?"

"From, well, people like you!"

"What's so bad about me?"

"You're a pervert."

"No I'm not! I just get dumped a lot, OK?"

"And why is that?"

"I'm a doormat with a superiority complex."

"And who told you that?"

"Athena."

"When?"

"Yesterday, during an impromptu therapy session."

Simon slumped back in his chair. If Athena had told him that, then that really was all the issues he had. And that was easily fixable. "Fine. But if I hear one word about you assaulting the princess, I will find you. And I will kill you." Larry laughed. "'Princess,' eh? Who gave her that nickname?" Simon explained. "It was the employees of the space center. She was like a princess and the space center was her castle. And if that were the case, her mother would be the queen." Larry nodded. "Alright. Thanks for not killing me on the spot!" With that, he walked out, feeling much more satisfied with himself. "Now there's no stopping me dating Athena!"

* * *

 **A/N: Now that that's in his head, what will he do? The answer: absolutely everything.**


	2. Larry & Hotti: Kidnappers Extraordinaire

**A/N: Imagine Larry worked at Hotti clinic. Now imagine he had access to anesthetics because he works at Hotti clinic. And now imagine getting ideas from Hotti himself. The result? This. I don't own Ace Attorney, that's Capcom.**

* * *

Larry had recently gotten a day job at Hotti clinic as a nurse, where he quickly met Dr. Hotti. Soon realizing they had lots in common, Larry hatched a plan with him involving his windowless white van. The plan was this: Herd all of Phoenix Wright's acquaintances who are teenage girls (who live in LA) to the office, administer an anesthetic, and drag them all back to a safe point. Hotti gave him the anesthetic, and he eventually got them all together.

At the Wright Anything Agency…

"Alright, so why are we all here?" Ema asked. Trucy shrugged. "I dunno. Any of you wanna see a magic trick?" They nodded. "Alright, look inside my magic panties. Do you see anything?" Everyone shook their head no. Then Trucy reached in, and pulled out a set of tissues. Larry walked in then. "I'll take that." Everyone looked at him. "Larry? What's going on!?" Larry smirked, and said nothing. Then he walked into the bathroom to get the anesthetic ready. Meanwhile, Pearl attempted to channel a few people. First up, Mia. After that worked, Trucy said Clay, which didn't go too well. Then Athena suggested Metis. Pearl actually did manage to channel Metis, but when Athena tried talking to her, she refused to say anything. Athena then pouted, and Metis relented. "Aw, you know I always was weak to that. Anyway, what do you want to discuss?" And so the conversation went on, until Metis said, "I have to leave now. Pearl's a little tired." Athena hugged her one final time, and then Pearl came back. "Athena, why are you hugging me?" Athena let go after that, and at that point Larry came in.

He was rather stealthy, all things considered. He waited until they were all distracted, then took them all down one by one. It was a slow, methodical process, but with years of painting came patience. Soon enough, all of their struggles had ceased, he tied them up, and placed them in the back of his van, to be delivered to his apartment.

* * *

Later, at Larry's apartment…

The four of them all came to their senses, to find they had been tied up and bound to various points in the room. They were also all naked. "AH! What's going on!?" With that, Larry and Hotti walked into the room. "Hello there. Dr. Hotti will… examine you now." More screaming as Dr. Hotti groped them. Athena said in between gropes, "I'll file for assault!" Larry shrugged. "It's me. Edgey would _never_ believe you outright, not without evidence. I mean, I don't stoop that low. Or, I used to. Until I met Hotti. But he doesn't know that." With that Larry went in as well, reaching around, poking, prodding, shaking, twisting, all sorts of things, until he started stripping. They all gasped in horror. "AH! GET AWAY FROM US!" But Larry ignored them, and soon his very much erect penis found its way into each and every orifice it fit into. He was rather methodical, beating a steady rhythm of thrusts, managing to get a reaction each and every time. Ema had given up, Pearl was screaming, Trucy was wriggling uncontrollably, and Athena was, to everyone's surprise, _enjoying_ the experience. "You like this, don't you? You never had anyone to boss around as a kid. Never got the chance to feel anything but submissive. But you embrace it. I kinda like that. As for you, science lady, I bet you want to examine this, 'for science.' But we all know what that _really_ means." Ema flushed bright red, but the words were indeed true, he could tell. Trucy and Pearl, in all their squirming, ended up face to face, and as they wriggled further, they found themselves mouth to mouth. Attempting to move away was futile, and the two men knew it, and they stuck their cocks into their womanhood to force the interaction neither of the two very straight girls wanted. "No… I don't want it… Please… Let me go…" But neither of the men cared. They went on for some time, until eventually they were too tired to keep, well, doing it. And so they whipped out the rags once more, and stuffed them in the back of Larry's van for a second time.

* * *

At the Wright Anything Agency…

The four of them woke up one by one in the middle of the office, where Phoenix found them waiting. The first thing he noticed: They were rather scantily clad. "Alright, what did you guys do today… Tell me now." Ema pointed at her crotch, then made a gesture with her fingers that involved her index finger going through a circle made by the other hand. Phoenix was about to shout something about letting themselves go when Athena made an L with her fingers. He then whipped out his phone, and dialed Larry's number.

"Larry, be honest with me. Did you fuck the four girls sitting in my office? Because a) I don't think they consented and b) One of them is my daughter."

"Let me put it this way, Nick. When you work with Doctor Hotti for a while, he rubs off on you."

"DAMMIT, LARRY! I'm gonna have to charge you with sexual harassment!"  
"Do you have any proof?"

"I have four people's testimony."

"Besides that. Like, any physical evidence."

"Uh, no. But I can get someone to investigate!"

"And I can get Apollo to defend me!"

"No you can't! I'm his boss, remember?"

"Not anymore, you're not! By 'pro hac vice' he can defend for this case!"

"GAH! Larry, you're impossible, you know that?"

"Yep. Sucks to be you, Nick. By the way, tell them I wasn't thinking straight."

"And what evidence is there of _that?_ "

"I was high. And also a little drunk."

"Oh. God dammit, I wouldn't have a case then, would I?"

"Nope. Well, I'll swing by the office. See ya!"

With that, he hung up. And sure enough, he arrived about half an hour later. "Hey ladies. Sorry about… earlier." But they wouldn't accept that. Oh no. Realizing what was about to happen, Phoenix said, "Have fun, Larry!" before sprinting off. Larry called Edgeworth.

"Um, can I file for assault?"

"Who's the assaulter?"

"Ema, Pearl, Trucy, and Athena."

"Do you think they're justified?"

"Maybe? I did sorta kidnap and rape them…"

"Then no, you can't."

"I was high at the time! And kinda drunk, too!"

"Oh. Well then, certainly."

With that, Edgeworth hung up, letting Larry sigh in relief, knowing that he would be getting out of this mess, and they would get punished if they punished him too well. The first action? A kick to the balls. Nothing happened. "Nope. Gotta try harder than that. One, wearing a cup, two, _everyone_ tries that. Not gonna cut it." Then Mr. Hat popped out and nailed him in the stomach. He got sent flying a fair distance, but he bounced back up. "OK, that's… probably a bad move for you guys. Reason in 3… 2… 1…" *BLEEEUUUUUGGGHHHHH!* With that, Larry puked, and due to the amount of force, the ball of stomach acid collided with Pearl, knocking her on the ground. "Sorry 'bout that." Then Athena grabbed him by the arms and threw him over her shoulder, causing him to land on his butt. Realizing he was in a good position, he spun round, and using his feet, latched onto Trucy's and Ema's butts, pulling them down while pushing him up at the same time. And as luck would have it, Trucy ended up reverse headbutting Pearl, knocking the two of them unconscious, while Ema decided the battle was lost, and gave in to the urge to binge on Snackoos. That left Athena. But Larry, no wanting to hurt Athena too bad, lest he incur the wrath of Simon (and Apollo too, now he thought about it) decided to backhand her. But he didn't do it once. He did it _twice_. Understandably, Athena was now disoriented, and Larry took the time to sit her down on the couch. Then he ran, leaving Phoenix to discover the mess that was now the office meeting space. When he did, he was legitimately impressed. _I didn't know you had it in you, Larry…_ he thought to himself, stroking his chin.

* * *

 **A/N: Well, that went on for a while. Will Larry be punished for this? Knowing Phoenix, probably not (he forgives way too easily) and knowing Larry, he wouldn't want anyone to know about the cause of the assault.**


	3. Larry Loses Everything

**A/N: Larry may be a bit of a perv, but he's a nice guy at heart. But some people don't know that. Or they don't care. I don't own Ace Attorney, that's Capcom.**

* * *

Larry had decided to head to the Agency to hang out. He was bored, and hitting on girls seemed unsavory while he had a clear shot with Athena. And so it was that he found himself lounging on the couch. Then Apollo, who was currently on vacation, came out of the bathroom. "Uh, Mr. Butz? What're you doing here?" Larry got up. "Oh, hey there, Apollo. I've been meaning to ask you a thing." Apollo looked at him and noticed his bracelet tightening. "And what is this thing?" Larry replied, "Are you dating Athena?" Apollo stared. "Uh, no, she's just a friend of mine. Why do you ask?" Larry said, "Well, if you're not, I certainly will!" Apollo gaped. "Wait, how did you convince Simon?" Larry replied, "It's really not that hard. Sure, he _almost_ killed me, but then I pointed out Athena could help me with my issues." Apollo nodded, but then suddenly grabbed his hand. "GAH!" Larry jumped. "Uh, what's going on?" Apollo stared hard at Larry, before shouting, "GOTCHA!" Larry jumped again. "Uh, what?" Apollo explained. "When you said the word 'issues' you started snapping your finger!" Larry shrugged. "So?" Apollo went further. "What sort of issues do you have?" Larry said, "I'm a doormat with a superiority complex. Ask Athena." Apollo nodded, then shouted, "Hey Athena! There's this guy named Larry who says he's a doormat with a superiority complex! That true!?" Athena shouted back, "Yeah!" Apollo felt the bracelet loosen up. "Alright, now that's cleared up… Why Athena? She's like 20 years younger than you!" Larry scoffed. "Age is just a number! She's still legal, and that's all I need to know!" Apollo facepalmed. "Are you sure you didn't drug Athena at some point to make her OK with the idea of dating you?" Larry nodded. "Yep! Though I didn't word it like that." Apollo groaned. "Oh, that's bad. You should probably say something about that." Larry nodded, before running into Athena. "So remember when I asked if we could hang out?" Athena rolled her eyes. "Last time we were in a room together, you backhanded me twice because I attacked you because you raped me while you were high." Larry then said, "That was me asking you out. On a date. Because I want to be your boyfriend." Athena stared. "And you expect me to say yes after everything that happened a few weeks ago!? You're crazy." Larry then got on his knees. "What about therapy sessions?" Athena glared at him. "Aw hell no. That is out of the question until you apologize." Larry stood back up. "I did! That was why I came over! I was going to apologize! Didn't Nick say that?" Athena nodded. "Oh yeah, he did." Larry crossed his arms. "Looks like I get those sessions after all." Athena grumbled. "What was that? I can't hear you over the feeling of accomplishment coursing through me." Athena turned to him and said, "Why'd you have to pick _me_ of all people?" Larry replied, "Well, I wanted to have Iris be my girlfriend, but she said no, and then I realized dating your muse is a bit weird. Then I talked to you, and realized there are literally only two women that are not my family who understand me. You were the second one." Athena groaned. "So I'm second fiddle, huh?" Larry threw his hands in the air. "I've known Iris for longer, OK?" That was when Larry noticed Widget was flashing pink. "Hey, you like me, don't you?" Athena gasped. "What gave you that impression!?" Larry pointed at Widget. Athena looked down. "Dammit Widget, stop giving me away to creeps who are two decades older than me!" Then Widget blurted out, "Fuck me like you did when you kidnapped me!" Athena slapped her hands over her mouth, while Larry made the wise decision and hid. Both Apollo and Phoenix had heard. "What was that, Athena?" The other two converged on her position, where Athena explained everything. Then there was a, " **MR. BUTZ, GET OUT HERE SO I CAN KILL YOU!** " But Larry refused to come out, and Athena refused to say anything. Actually, she had been holding her breath the whole time, and when Apollo shouted, Athena had collapsed, Widget still flashing pink. Phoenix then said to Apollo, "Search the whole area. The Butz is somewhere inside here, I know it." With that, they sprinted out, allowing Larry to come out and scoop up Athena. Then he ran for the exit.

When Phoenix and Apollo went back to their starting point, they noticed Athena was gone. "Oh no. Not again…" Phoenix groaned. Apollo grabbed his arm. "C'mon boss, we gotta find her before he takes advantage of her again!" And so they ran as fast as they could. Phoenix called Edgeworth, who ordered the police to spread out and search for Larry's van.

* * *

Inside Larry's van…

Athena woke up to realize she was in Larry's van. Again. "Larry, what's all this for? You know the boss probably got Prosecutor Edgeworth to call the whole force on us, right? There's no use in running. Also, this technically makes me a kidnapping victim three times over in the span of a month. Which is crazy." Larry looked at her. "Look, I didn't want it to have to be this way. I just wanted a nice stable relationship, but then I got high, listened to Doctor Hotti, fucked you, then you and your friends attacked me, then Nick and Apollo found out… Then _this_." Then a realization hit. "Oh crap. Blackquill!" Athena gasped. "He's absolutely going to kill you. You're lucky boss hasn't told him yet." Suddenly, a car pulled up alongside the van. When Athena rolled down her window, she saw Simon staring at her. "Simon? What are you doing here?" Simon replied, "I heard the news from Edgeworth-dono's calls with Wright-dono. He violated the deal. I have to kill him." Athena started trembling. "W-wait! You don't understand! He was high! And working with Doctor Hotti! Any guy would do that if they were with Hotti!" Simon shook his head. "He said he would never defile you. And yet he did. So he must pay." Athena felt torn. On the one hand, she knew for a fact that Larry hadn't at all meant for that to happen. He had said it himself, with no discord at all in his voice. On the other, Simon was right. He had had sex with her, presumably without her consent. But he didn't have to _kill_ Larry, did he!? Then she noticed she had started bawling her eyes out. But she turned to Simon. He had to know the truth! He just had to! "Simon, please! I know Larry's not the best with this sort of thing, but you have to believe me! He didn't mean any of this! None of it! When he confessed, how much discord do you think I heard?" Simon thought. "I'd say noise levels were nearly at 100%." Athena shook her head. "0%. I heard nothing but sincerity. And computers can't lie, can they?" Then she noticed Simon clench his fist, before muttering, "I'm sorry, Athena. I couldn't save you." With that, he swerved, and the last thing Athena felt was the jolt as her head made contact with the back of the chair, before everything went black.

* * *

 **A/N: Well that was… depressing. I did not expect this story to go this way, to be honest. Then again, I also didn't expect it to get so sexual early on. Anyway, what will happen now that Simon's gone and crashed the van? To be continued…**


	4. Larry Bounces Back

**A/N: Now you'd think with how well the last chapter went, this one would be depressing, too. But nope. Total emotional 180. Seriously. You can't make this up. On another note, I don't own Ace Attorney, that's Capcom.**

* * *

Larry woke up in a hospital bed with hospital staff hovering over him. One of them noticed he was awake. "Mr. Butz, I'd refrain from trying to strain yourself too much. Even though that van of yours is bulky, you still have a whole host of injuries you haven't quite recovered from." Larry, who was had been attempting to get up, slumped back down, then mumbled, "Athena…" The doctor looked at him. "Mr. Butz?" Larry then mumbled, "How… is… she?" The doctor replied, "She's not doing as well as you are. Her side took the brunt of the force, so she'll be in intensive care for much longer." Larry groaned. _Athena, you better not die on me! Not until I can make this up to you! I swear on it!_ He thought to himself. Then he looked around and noticed he wasn't in an intensive care unit, meaning he couldn't go check on her. Under his sheets, his hands balled into fists and he subconsciously started shaking. He needed to do something, anything, to make sure. But he couldn't. Not in his state. The doctors wouldn't let him see her, anyway. He was sure of that. Even still, he just wanted to do something.

* * *

Phoenix and Edgeworth had rushed over as soon as they could. When they got to the hospital's reception desk, the woman working there reported that Athena was stable, but just barely, and Simon was full-blown critical. Only Larry was relatively fine. And so they asked where he was. The receptionist pointed, and they ran off as fast as they could.

They soon found Larry's room, where a nurse said they could look at him, but talking to him was a bit of a hit-or-miss. And so they went in. Larry, who by this point had fallen back asleep, looked decent. He was covered in bruises and cuts, but most of them were minor, and the bigger ones had already been dealt with. It irked Phoenix to no end that he couldn't figure out how Athena was doing, though he sighed when he realized Larry seemed to already be brightening up from their presence. Then he turned to Edgeworth. "So, clearly Simon wanted to commit seppuku for failing in his duty to protect Athena. But why do it then? Why not earlier? So he could try to kill Larry, too?" Edgeworth sighed. "Yes, Simon said he would kill Larry if the latter had sex with Athena without her consent. I'm sure Athena attempted to explain the circumstances, but clearly Simon was adamant in his stance that he had failed, and needed to uphold his end of the bargain. He actually rushed out of the office that morning as soon as Athena mentioned Larry's presence at your office, Wright." Phoenix felt horrible. "Wait a second, Simon came into my office! And when I saw him, there were Psyche-Locks! Dammit, why didn't I ask him about those… I'm sure I could've convinced him not to do it! Gah, I'm such an idiot!" That was when the two noticed that Larry was sat up in his hospital bed. "Hey, guys? You want me to tell you what happened before Simon crashed the car?" The two nodded. They needed this information. "So, Simon pulls up next to my van, saying he has to kill me because I was dumb and fucked Athena without her consent, but Athena tried to argue I wasn't in the right state of mind. And man, she really put a ton of effort into it. But Simon was like, 'nope, doesn't count' and said I had to pay for what I did. Then Athena asked Simon about the amount of discord, and he said it would've drowned everything out, but she said there was none! And computers can't lie, right? But then something in Simon snapped, and he rammed his car into mine. I got a glimpse of what happened next, but then I blacked out. By the way, how long has it been?" Phoenix looked at his phone. "Let's see… you've been out for 3 days, give or take a couple hours." Larry nodded, then said, "I really hope the docs are done soon, because I want to find out how Athena's doing! She better not die on me before I go out with her!" Phoenix tried to laugh, but it didn't come out right. Larry glared. "So how bad is she, anyway?" Phoenix gulped. "Just barely stable, I'm afraid. You should be thankful that van of yours is so damn sturdy. Otherwise you might not even be here." Larry gulped. "Well, how bad was the damage?" Edgeworth took care of that. "The passenger side door crumpled in, and your front axle snapped on the right wheel as well. The back right tire apparently popped on impact, so now your van's trunk is currently bent in on that side. The front left corner of your van also took a lot of damage from the impact with the shoulder, and that impact must have also popped the tire, causing further damage to your front axle. When the rescue party found you, you were nearly crushing Athena between the door and your body weight." Larry gulped. "Oh shit. I really gotta make it up to Athena somehow now! But how to do it…" Phoenix patted Edgeworth on the back. "Great going, Miles. You got Larry to start making ideas." Edgeworth said nothing. He did not want to deal with anything involving Larry for the foreseeable future. After all, "If something smells, it's usually the Butz."

* * *

Larry ended up being released from the hospital about two days later. The first thing he did was ask if he could visit Athena. But the doctors refused. When he asked how long they thought it would be until he could, answers varied from, "3 days" to "2 weeks" and every date in between. He didn't even bother asking about Simon, as he knew that the so-called 'Twisted Samurai' would not be able to be visited for a _long_ time. But he realized there was one person he really needed to talk to. And so he got a cab to take him to the Agency.

As luck would have it, Apollo _was_ there. And he was _pissed_. As soon as Larry walked in, he felt a glare bore a hole straight through his soul. "So, uh, about that accident…" Apollo grabbed him before he could say anything else. "Athena better make it out of that hospital or else that death threat becomes a reality." Larry jumped. "Woah, woah, hang on! Athena's getting out, though it might take a while… none of the docs I talked to said she wouldn't recover!" When Apollo noticed his bracelet was not tightening, he relented. "Fine. I believe you. But how the hell did that even happen, anyway?" And so Larry recounted the lead-up to the crash. When he finished, Apollo groaned. "Damn samurai and their need to do seppuku…" Then Trucy and the Feys came in. Before any of them could pounce on Larry, Apollo stopped them, and let Larry explain. When no one picked up any signs of lying (there were also no Psyche-Locks) there were sighs of relief. "Hopefully Athena makes it out soon! She's better with my magic tricks anyway!" Trucy said. Apollo grumbled. "I bet Mr. Wright'll make me stay to clean the toilet. That's going to suck." Pearl slumped onto the couch. "I hope Athena makes it out of there so she can be your special someone, Uncle Larry!" Larry pumped his fist. "Yes! Thanks for the optimism, Pearl!" Maya facepalmed. "Not this again, Pearls! It was bad enough when you did it for me and Nick!" Pearl rolled her eyes. "But you got together, didn't you? So I was right! And if I'm right on this once, I'll be right again!" Maya shook her head. Then, looking at Trucy, she asked, "Hey, do you know about the gambler's fallacy?" Trucy nodded. "Of course I do! Dad never believed in it, though. I wonder why?" Maya then asked, "Care to explain?" Trucy did so. "So basically, the gambler's fallacy goes like this: If you win a bet, you're more likely to raise the stakes. If you lose a bet, you'll be more likely to lower them or drop out. Like now, for instance. Since you 'won' the bet that was Dad and Maya being 'special someones,' You're now pushing it from a 10 year age gap to a 20 year age gap between Mr. Larry and Athena." Pearl made a "Hmph" noise before saying, "So? She's his psychologist! You've got therapy sessions together, right?" Larry nodded. "Yep! First one's gonna be the the Friday after she gets out of the hospital!" Pearl then said, "See? They're meeting already! And clearly Athena wants to help him! Remember when we asked her about it? She said he was _mostly_ OK! And she'd be fine with that!" Trucy was about to say something in protest, but she had nothing. Pearl had won. Larry, when he realized this, put on his cocky smirk, but he was not counting on Trucy getting pissed at _that_. The result? Mr. Hat popped out and clocked him in the shoulder. "HEY! UNCALLED FOR!" Trucy then said, "Can you please just _leave_ now?" Larry threw his hands into an "I surrender" pose, and backed out of the office at a reasonable speed. When he was downstairs, he got another cab to take him home. He had a lot of painting to do, he was sure of that.

* * *

 **A/N: Apparently being a friend of Phoenix makes you mostly indestructible. I guess that's how Apollo managed to survive the explosion in Dual Destinies.**


End file.
